Jane's Surrender (Hard World Tour #2) (18 page)

“
Yeah, the lead singer of Hard World. Her name is Annabella Hastings. Anyway, I’ll send you all the details you need and call again okay?”

“
Sure.” And with that last word, he hung up, and I stood there struck dumb.

Two years after Las Vegas

Jane

It had been almost three months since Bella’s time at the ranch began, and we finally made it there. We had a tour coming up, and there was no question of her attending. According to Nate, she was up to task, and he and her psychologist would be with us all the way.

Yesterday when we came, there was a big blow up. Sam and Bella fought, which resulted in Bella finally admitting that Nick was gone, that she had suffered a mental breakdown, and we didn't know how to help her.

Not that Nate allowed us; he defended her in front of Sam, and then took great care of her.

We hadn’t seen her since. We went to town to buy some souvenirs. More like Ariel wanted to buy something and dragged us along with her.

She was finally done and we were on our way to the ranch, where a meeting between Bella, Jer, and us was supposed to take place to go over our plan.

We hadn't done much in those months without her, finished some touches on the album, but rarely spoke about the situation.

“
I have to say although this city is small, I do like how it looks,” Ariel commented, and Sam rolled her eyes.

“
Yeah, it’s nice.” It was hard not to notice that life here was very family-oriented, with lots of kids running around.

I couldn’t believe I had a two-year anniversary last month, but I was determined. I decided I’d see Drake after the tour and demand a divorce. Our situation wasn't fair to either of us.

I ignored the part inside me that wanted to see him and make sure he wasn't as wonderful as my memories.

When the car stopped, we grabbed our bags and entered the front door, immediately heading to the living room where Jer, Nate, and Bella were waiting. We all froze and kind of looked at each other. The meeting was the first time that we were all in the same room since the whole mess started, and let’s just say that fight last night wasn't helping the awkwardness.

Then my eyes snapped to someone else in the room.

Drake.

Everything inside me stopped. All I could do was gape at him. He froze with his glass of juice or something, halfway to his mouth.

God, he was handsome.

I stood there and drank him in.

His muscular body was covered in jeans and a shirt that just emphasized his perfection. His beautiful blue eyes could pierce through every defense I had. His silky blond hair, in my opinion, was the color of morning sunshine.

I had a deep desire to go to him, to touch him, to kiss his body all over, and to ask him to hold me forever.

Just the idea of us two together, of his simple touch, had my body covered with goose bumps. My breath hitched. My heart beat faster, and it was difficult to ignore the lust that washed over me.

I forgot what it was like to be in his presence, how my body craved him and the sizzling energy that was between us.

And that made me angry.

The tension coming from both of us was hard to miss.

“
What are you doing here?!” My shout was loud, but before Drake said anything, Bella replied for him.

“
He’s my psychologist. I need him on the tour.” I moved my eyes to my girl and forced a smile. Finally, she was back with us and acted as herself. I didn't know until this moment how really worried I was about the whole situation and that she might not make it.

“
Hey, babe. Nice to have you back.” I came closer and leaned down to give her a hug, and she froze at my touch, but then, she finally hugged me back. We held each other for a few seconds, happy to have this moment with her, but then I straightened my spine and narrowed my eyes on Drake.

“
I don’t want you here.” Was this his plan all along? It was probably the reason he took the case in the first place.

“
Too bad, beautiful, because I’m staying,” he said tenderly, almost softly.

The word again. It made me shiver inside when the word rolled from his mouth.

Why was he the only man who could get this kind of reaction from me?

“
You two know each other?” Jeremy finally asked. One glance at him made me question why he looked angry. It wasn't as if it was a crime to know Drake.

“
Yeah,” we both said at the same time, and while it made me tighten my jaw, Drake was highly amused with the situation.

“
Care to elaborate?” Ariel raised her brow and folded her arms.

“
There isn’t much to tell, really,” I said quickly but harshly. I couldn't believe we had the attention of the entire room.

“
True,” Drake agreed to my surprise, and took a sip of his drink. Then he looked at Nate and smiled. “Nate, brother of mine, I’d like you to meet my wife.”

Drake

The silence that fell in the room was almost comical, and I enjoyed seeing Jane’s shocked expression. I had the feeling she would be here today, and I couldn't lose the opportunity to see her.

Bella was making exceptional progress, and I was right about her connection with my brother, who, judging by how close they were sitting, had sealed the deal and made her his. I was happy for them, but wanted my girl to be mine as well.

“
Excuse me, but what?” the redhead asked first, as her mouth gaped open.

“
What do you fucking mean
wife
?” Jeremy asked calmly, and I instantly hated the guy. He was the one she thought she was in love with. Fucker. No matter how he wanted to hide it, his eyes kept coming back to the blonde in the room. They clearly had a thing going on, and you didn't have to be a psychologist to see that.

My girl was not his concern, and the idea of them being close all this time while she refused to see me made me want to punch his pretty face with my fist.

“
Just as I said. We’re married. Actually, our anniversary was a couple of days ago. Two years, but who’s counting, right, babe?” I gave her a careless smile and hoped like fuck my hurt wasn't showing on my face.

“
Vegas trip?” Bella asked, and all eyes turned to her as Jane nodded.

“
How were you able to keep it a secret for so long?” the blonde asked, her voice raspy.

“
We didn’t try much to make it public.” No matter how much I tried, it was impossible to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

“
There was nothing to make public. I asked for a divorce,” Jane said defensively, which made me smile.

“
Which, if I remember correctly, I refused to give you without you seeing me first, and you were against that.”

“
Yeah, like—” She wasn't able to finish her sentence, because she was interrupted by Jeremy’s roar, which made the girls jump in their seats.

“
Are you fucking kidding me? First, we have to deal with all this shit with Bella.” He pointed a finger at her. “Then you lose your shit and have a threesome scandal…” Now his finger was pointing at the redhead, and she shifted guiltily. Well, looks like not all the band members were as innocent as my girl used to be.

“
I didn't have a threesome, but thanks for judging, people.” She moved to the couch and sat down next to Bella. “Hey, girl. Nice to see you.” She gave her a kiss on the cheek and squeezed her hand.

Jeremy shook his head and continued, and now his attention was on the blonde. “Then you go and insult Diego Rodrigues, who, may I remind you all, is the CEO of DiRod Corporation, and they do not appreciate being insulted, and fuck if I know what kind of problem you have with him.” It didn't escape my notice how all the girls shared a look. There was history behind the guy, which had to do with the redhead, if her tensing was anything to go by. Jeremy breathed heavily and finally finished. “And now you, of all people, who I thought didn’t get involved in all this shit, are married? You got fucking married in Las Vegas two years ago and didn't even bother to inform me?” What the fuck was that voice when he addressed my wife? In a second, I stood in front of her and gave their manager a lethal look.

“
Don’t fucking raise your voice when you talk to her.”

“
Why? Because all of a sudden, you think you’re her husband?”

“
I don’t think. I know. Back the fuck off.” We stood there for a moment, each measuring the other, until finally Jeremy backed off and made a frustrated sigh.

“
I’m sorry for losing my shit like that, girls, but understand me, too. I have to deal with all this and the media, and I can’t help but feel like all of you have more secrets. Anything else I should know about? Secret babies? Husbands? Heck, maybe wives?” Silence reigned.

“
It’s okay,” Sam said, moved closer to him, put her hand on his arm, and smiled up at him. “We aren’t exactly the easiest group to deal with.” There was some warmth in her eyes, so feelings seemed mutual between them.

“
Well, Jane, that would explain why you always refused to get laid. Though, girl, you should have told us you lost your V-card,” Ariel pouted, but her words loosened some of the knots inside me.

During the last two years, I wondered if she found another after she discovered the beauty of sex. I was relieved to know it wasn't the case, and even though she thought she was in love with someone else, I was still the only one who knew what it was like to have the pleasure of her body.

“
This is shit I don't want to know,” Nate murmured, and it made Jer chuckle. He became more relaxed.

“
Welcome to my fucking club, man. When you’re around girls 24/7, you hear a lot of shit you don’t want to know about.”

“
I can’t believe you guys!” Jane yelled, about to leave, but I grabbed her hand, and she had no other choice but to stay put.

“
No need to be embarrassed, beautiful. I haven't gotten laid either. In fact, why don’t we go remedy the situation right now?” With those words, before she could react, I leaned down, propped her on my shoulder, and left the room.

She was finally back in my arms.

Jane

I couldn’t believe he had done it!

“
Let me go, damn it!” I tried to punch him, but since my head was face down and it came into direct contact with his butt, I didn't have much leverage. No matter what I did, he didn't budge; he was strong. Not to mentioned his ass.

He had a great ass.

Thoughts out of the gutter, girl. You know very well that’s a bad idea.

“
No.” He made his way toward multiple doors on the second floor; one of them was probably his.

I knew Bella had a psychologist, but I didn't expect it to be him.

I hadn’t seen him since that reckless, wild trip in Vegas, when I did the stupidest thing in my entire life.

Finally, he stopped at a door, opened it, went inside, and shut it. He lowered me, and before I could make a relieved sound, he spun me around and pinned my back to the door, which left me breathing hard and looking right into his blue eyes.

God, he was so handsome.

His blond hair was longer now; the locks looked as silky as I remembered, feeling them under my fingers. His high cheekbones and tanned skin…and he knew well what to do with that body.

“
What do you want, Drake?” My voice was husky. It wasn't easy to keep my raging hormones at bay. I didn't understand my reaction to him. I didn't understand why I wanted to kiss him and forget about everything else.

He wasn’t the one I wanted.

I’d loved someone else, and for a long time. The only reason Drake and I had a chance all those years ago in Vegas was because I found out that for the man I loved, there would always be another.